A prodigy from the rough streets of Zaun, Ekko manipulates time to spin any situation to his advantage. Using his own invention, the Zero-Drive, he explores the branching possibilities of reality.

Ekko is a high mobility, Ability Power champion who can be played as either a bruiser or an assassin. His high mobility, burst and sustained damage make him a great champion for both inexperienced and experienced players alike.

Abilities:

Z-Drive Resonance. [Passive]Ekko’s Zero-Drive charges his spells and attacks with temporal energy. The third hit deals bonus damage and saps the target’s movement speed. If the target is a champion, Ekko gains accelerated movement speed.

This ability is great for chasing down your enemies, as you’ll unleash devastating burst damage on your enemy and then be able to follow up for the kill. This ability will allow you to stick to anyone as long as you can attack-move.

This ability isn’t the best in the game, and it’s very weak if you’re behind in the game; this ability was created for when you’re winning, and, when you are, you’re going to keep winning.

Timewinder. [Q]Ekko throws a device that deals 60/75/90/105/120 (+0.2*Ability Power) magic damage to enemies it passes through. It expands into a slowing field on the first champion hit, slowing everything inside by 32/39/46/53/60%. It then returns to him after a delay, dealing 60/85/110/135/160 (+0.6*Ability Power) magic damage to all targets hit upon return.

This is going to be your poke during the laning phase, and will serve as your zoning ability to allow you to keep your enemies away from valuable members of your team.

Timewinder allows you to farm safely, and quickly conquer your enemies. Make sure you’re at full health for when the enemy finally tries to engage on you; you should make sure that you poke down your enemy’s life points before you fully commit to a fight as you are an assassin champion; you want to burst them down, then back out. Max this first.

Active: After a 3 second delay, Ekko creates a short-lived chronosphere at the target location that slows enemies who enter by 40%. If Ekko enters the sphere, he will detonate it, gaining a shield that absorbs up to 150/195/240/285/330 (+0.8*AP) damage for 2 seconds. Enemies caught inside are stunned for 2.3 seconds.
Cost: 30/40/50/60/70 Mana. Range: 1600. Cooldown: 22/20/18/16/14 seconds (based on progression).

The passive ability means that you will easily deplete your foes’ health pool before you realise how much damage you’ve dealt. However, don’t focus solely on dealing auto attacks – because you’re not a defensive champion, you will die relatively fast if you try to become an ADC.

The active on the other hand, is exactly why you’d want to level up this ability second, after Timewinder. Parallel Convergence will easily allow you to win many team fights with ease; having a 2.3 second stun on all enemies caught within the field is a game winning ability.

If you remember the Tempered Fate ability from our Bard review, imagine an ability that doesn’t affect your allies and still allows you to attack – this is what Parallel Convergence does.

Phase Dive. [E]Ekko dashes a short distance in the targeted direction. His next attack will deal 50/80/110/140/170 (+0.2*Ability Power) bonus magic damage and teleport him to his target.
Cost: 40/50/60/70/80 Mana. Range: 325. Cooldown: 15/13/11/9/7 seconds (based on progression).

This ability further allows you to stick to your targets, but can also serve as a good escape when you see a gank incoming.

It’s damage is minimal, but it is extremely useful in team fights for focusing on a specific target. Max last, as it is simply utility.

Chronobreak. [R]Makes Ekko invulnerable and untargetable, and teleports him back to wherever he was 4 seconds ago. Ekko heals himself for 100/150/200 + 20/25/30% (+0.03*Ability Power) of the damage taken over the last 4 seconds, and deals 200/350/500 (+1.3*Ability Power) magic damage to all nearby enemies on arrival.
Cost: 0 Mana. Range: 850. Cooldown: 90/80/70 seconds (based on progression).

Chronobreak is the ability that Riot has focused on to make this champion stand out. This ability is great for turning the battle when your enemy is chasing you.

This ability heals you, deals damage, gets you out of danger, and costs no mana; it is great for any situation, and can be used in combination with your Parallel Convergence to instantly stun the enemy team, but you need to make sure that your clone (teleport point) is where you’re placing it.

Masteries:

These are my masteries that are focused towards gaining damage, but granting Ekko some defence. For Ekko, I aim for Havoc for the +3% damage globally, along with Juggernaut from the defensive tree for the 3% increase to your maximum health.

I also pick up Arcane Blade from the offensive tree, for the bonus magic damage equal to 5% of your ability power to work in combination with your passive effect from Parallel Convergence.

Runes:

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power +4.95 Ability Power

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration +0.87 Magic Penetration

Greater Seal of Armour +1 Armour

Greater Glyph of Ability Power +1.19 Ability Power

The runes I use for this build are focused around gaining, and keeping the advantage against your opponents throughout the entire game, but you should aim to help your allies snowball to win.

Ability Power and Hybrid Penetration marks are optional here, but I choose to stick with a mix between the two. If you go full ability power, you always have the option of buying a Void Staff earlier to compliment them.

Summoner Spells:

IgniteFlash

With Ekko’s unique mobility kit, the standard choice is to have Ignite and Flash.

You can of course pick Flash, along with Teleport, if that’s what feels right for you; it will help against champions that are going to focus on staying in top lane who pose a threat to your turrets, such as Nasus, Tryndamere, and Singed.

Early Game:During the early game, you need to focus on getting the best CS in your lane. You’ll want to make sure you’re using your Timewinder to keep the pressure up, and to keep up with the farm, otherwise you’ll need to be in melee range to last hit.

Enemies will try to dive on you while you are low level, because that’s when you’re at your most vulnerable. You can’t counter this without relying on dealing damage before hand from your poke.

The items you’re going to want are a Doran’s Ring, 2 Health potions and a Warding Totem.

Mid Game:
You should aim to attack your teammates lanes, because you’ll easily be able to escape if it doesn’t go too well, or you can use your Chronobreak if you see an enemy approaching you from behind to lower their health pool dramatically, and potentially kill them.

The key thing to bear in mind when using Phase Dive on your enemies is knowing when your allies are going in for a kill. Don’t go in alone, only to realise that your burst isn’t sufficient to kill more than one person, and that you then have nothing left at your disposal.

The items you should have by mid game are Sorcerer’s Shoes, Lich Bane, and a Needlessly Large Rod for Luden’s Echo.

Late Game:
During this stage of the game, you’ll need to try to use Parallel Convergence decisively to achieve swift victory.

Try to use Timewinder on as many enemies as possible while focussing either their ADC or APC to potentially kill them or force them out of the fight. Your abilities will easily win you the game if you use them correctly: you can Phase Dive into your Parallel Convergence to activate its stun, instead of Chronobreak or Flash if you’ve previously used them to escape or to deal damage.

Teamfights are where you will contribute the most, with your huge AoE damage and CC abilities. You are a threat to the enemy team, and they’ll ignore your team to try and take you out; this is where you can heal up any damage with your ultimate, regroup with your team and quickly turn the tides of the battle.

End game items should be Sorcerer’s Shoes, Zhonya’s Hourglass, Rabadon’s Deathcap, Void Staff, and Lich Bane. Of course your elixir will be either the Elixir of Sorcery, or an Elixir of Iron against the more CC orientated teams.

For your last item, you’ll have the choice of either a Rod of Ages (if you buy it early), a Zhonya’s Hourglass, or a Guardian Angel, most of the time, I prefer to choose Zhonya’s Hourglass over the other two, simply because it gives me damage, and while in stasis, I can maybe get off another ability when I get out, or it can be used to set up Chronobreak for a huge burst of damage. Guardian’s Angel will be an option if the enemy’s team is comprised of 5 assassins.

Optional:

Counter Picks:
Lissandra:
Great at dealing with enemies from afar, and will leave you terrified as you attempt to keep even with the enemy’s CS.

The CC at Lissandra’s disposal will zone you out of your lane if you get remotely close to the creeps, and she will dominate your lane until you’re completely useless.

To counteract this, request a few ganks from your jungler. If he isn’t willing, or can’t do this, then try not to die, and gather as much experience as you can. Don’t think that you’re useless in this lane, because you can win it if you poke Lissandra down before she pokes you.

Caitlyn:
Simply, this is a range issue: Caitlyn’s Auto Attack range is double that of Ekko’s Phase Dive, so you won’t be getting anywhere close to Caitlyn, but even if you did, she’ll simply use her 90 Caliber Net to get knocked back, and will continue her onslaught.

Just keep trying to get onto Caitlyn with the jump you get from using Phase Dive on your next auto attack. Sooner or later, she’ll slip up, and you’ll likely kill her from full health.

Gnar:
Gnar has the ability to attack you from range, and then gain a massive buff that changes his abilities dramatically and turn himself into a melee champion. You will need to know when to attack, because Gnar’s damage output can leave you speechless.

Yes, your Timewinder does a lot of damage, but so does his entire kit. Stay away from walls, and poke him down enough to the point where a kill is possible.

Pros:

Parallel Convergence [W] is an exceptional ability, considering it is a basic ability.

Insane CC possibilities – allows you to choose your fight.

High poke damage throughout all phases of the game.

Can work well with the summoner spells Flash/Teleport, instead of the usual Flash/Ignite.

Cons:

Overall short ranged – hard to survive against certain match-ups.

Parallel Convergence can easily be avoided.

As an assassin, you need to stay away from the centre of a fight, and pick off your targets one by one.

Overall:

Ekko is a very versatile champion, and should be feared throughout the game. He shines in the Middle and Top lanes, and has the possibility of helping your team snowball. Your auto attacks deal a lot of damage, along with the rest of your kit, and you shouldn’t under-estimate your ability to deal damage, but you shouldn’t get over-confident either, because you’re a very squishy champion. More often than not, you’re going to struggle to obtain creep score (CS), but don’t let this put you off this champion, because you’ll easily be able to win your lane versus your opponents, with your highly damaging poke, and the ability to escape from fights with ease.

Thank you for reading!

Luke – Big Orbit Games.

Big Orbit are a hobby games retailer that specialises in the sale of individual trading cards and game components – Big Orbit also runs a Gaming venue in Evesham, Worcs, UK.

“The celestial vagabond known only as Bard dwells beyond the physical universe in realms unknown to man. Manifesting when others threaten the cosmic equilibrium, the ancient caretaker acts with speed and intent, only returning to his endless watch once he has steered Runeterra from catastrophe.”

Bard fills the support role with a unique set of abilities. Bard can be both aggressive, defensive, and supportive with the ability to stun an entire lane with the help of Cosmic Binding. Bard excels in all phases of the game using crowd control (both through stunning, locking champions in stasis), wall-crossing, and his late game healing ability.

Abilities:Traveler’s Call. [Passive]Ancient Chimes:Bard’s presence causes sacred chimes to appear at random locations on the map, which linger for up to 10 minutes. Collecting a chime grants Bard a 7 second increase in movement speed (out of combat only & stackable up to 5 times), 20 experience, and restores 12% of Bard’s maximum mana. Every 5 Chimes Bard collects empowers his Meeps.

Meeps:

Bard’s presence attracts small spirits known as Meeps to his side. Whenever Bard attacks, one of his Meeps throws itself at his target, dealing 30 – 465 + 20 (for each 5 Chimes collected beyond 150) + 30% Ability Power as bonus magic damage before disappearing back to the spirit world.

At 5 Chimes, Meeps slow damaged enemies by 25%/45%/60%/70%/75%/80% (based on progression) for 1 second, and at 25 Chimes they deal area of effect damage in a cone behind the main target, with the cone’s size increasing at 65 Chimes. Meeps spawn every 10/9/8/7/6 (based on progression) seconds and Bard can hold up to 1/2/3/4 (based on progression).

You should not under-estimate Bard’s passive, but don’t abandon your team to find Chimes when your allies need you. The 12% mana restoration from collecting Chimes can force your enemies to return to their nexus more often than you will, but beware as they’ll have the item advantage.

Cosmic Binding. [Q]

Bard fires an energy bolt, dealing 80/125/180/215/280 (based on progression) (+0.65*Ability Power) magic damage to one or two enemies. The first target hit will be slowed by 60% for 1/1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8 second(s) (based on progression).

If the bolt hits another enemy or a wall, any enemies hit are stunned for 1/1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8 second(s) (based on progression).
Cost: 60 Mana. Range: 950. Cooldown: 11/10/9/8/7 seconds (based on progression).

Bard’s first ability, Cosmic Binding, is very potent throughout the game. Cosmic Binding allows Bard to set up some spectacular kill opportunities enemies won’t expect. In bottom lane, teamed with a marksman, leveling into this ability first will allow you to either push your enemies out of lane, or kill them. Cosmic Binding is perfect for stopping the enemy jungler from reaching you, or your marksman.

Caretaker’s Shrine. [W]

Bard raises a health shrine that immediately offers 30/60/90/120/150 (+0.2*Ability Power) health, but restores up to 70 (+0.45*Ability Power) health as it gathers power for 10 seconds. The shrine’s effect also grants 50% decaying movement speed for 1.5 seconds.

Bard can have up to 3 shrines active at once, which remain until visited by an ally champion or crushed by an enemy champion. Cost 100/105/110/115/120 (based on progression) Mana. Range: 800. Cooldown: 12 seconds at all stages of progression.

Caretaker’s Shrine isn’t the best heal in the game, but the speed bonus you receive from this, combined with Cosmic Binding, can win you the match.

Magical Journey. [E]

Bard opens a one-way corridor through nearby terrain. Both allies and enemies can use the corridor by right-clicking on any part of it while near its entrance, with allies travelling 10% faster than enemies. The corridor will disappear after 10 seconds of placement.
Cost 30 Mana. Range 900. Cooldown: 20/19/18/17/16 seconds (based on progression).

Magical Journey is the first ability of it’s kind, and will be a game changing ability in all phases of the game. If you are playing as Bard, you’ll want to make sure you’re not alone, as the fear of being ambushed by Magical Journey will terrorise your enemies and you’re likely to be engaged upon by their team.

Tempered Fate. [R]

Bard sends magical energy arcing to a target location. On impact, all champions, minions, monsters, and turrets in the target area are put in stasis, becoming invincible, untargetable, and unable to act for 2.5 seconds. Cost: 100 Mana. Range: 3400. Cooldown: 130/115/90 seconds (based on progression).

Bard’s ultimate ability, simply one of the most impactful abilities in League of Legends. If you find a champion your team cannot deal with, use Tempered Fate as you see him approaching, but be sure you keep some champions out of stasis to still have a target.

Masteries:

These are my utility focused masteries. For Bard, I mainly go for the wanderer tree giving you additional movement speed to enable you to grab the Chimes, and make sure you’re back with your allies, before your marksman misses out on too much creep score (cs).

The runes I use for this build are focused around gaining an early advantage against your opponents; if you can win the early game, there’s a strong chance that you’re going to succeed later throughout the game.

Magic Resistance is not essential during the lane phase; this is why I use the scaling magic resistance runes.

Summoner Spells:

IgniteExhaustFlash

With Bard’s incredible mobility kit, you have the choice of choosing Ignite, and Exhaust for a bit of counter-meta play style.

You can of course pick Flash, along with Exhaust, or Ignite if that’s what feels right for you, it will help align your Cosmic Bindings and Tempered Fates easier.

Early Game:

During the early game, your objective is to make sure your marksman can obtain the maximum amount of creep kills available to them. Items that will help you to achieve this will revolve around sustain, and gold flow. Your starting items can be Ancient Coin, followed by 4 Health Potions. As for your trinket, the best possible choice on average is a Warding Totem; you could always get a Sweeping Lens if you’re going to attempt to cross the river, but the overall best option will be a Warding Totem.

Once you’ve gathered enough money to grab your Nomad’s Medallion, instantly get your Boots, and make sure you quickly obtain a Sightstone, and Sweeping Lens; this is when you can go into the river, grab your Chimes, and counter-ward.

Mid Game:

The mid game starts once you’ve taken out the first enemy turret your lane has. Once this has been done, your opponents will make sure their bottom allies are well defended, to compensate for the lack of a turret. This is your opportunity to create the advantage, your abilities will allow you to go from dragon, to the enemy bottom lane in 5 seconds flat, along with your allies.

When you’re going through the river, grab some Chimes, and make sure you pay a visit to your middle lane; the enemy won’t understand what’s happening, and if you’ve destroyed their wards, they’ll likely be out of position if you use Magical Journey.

Make sure to get back to your lane as quickly as you can, as your marksman may need your help.

At this point you should aim for your items to be (x) Health Potions, Nomad’s Medallion, Frozen Heart, Sweeping Lens, Locket of the Iron Solari, and Boots of Mobility.

I personally recommend Frozen Heart over Randuin’s Omen because you’re the support, and nobody’s going to be targeting you for attacks unless you get in close without your team; Frozen Heart gives out a constant aura reducing the enemies attack speed by 15%, and Randuin’s Omen only reduces the attack speed of the enemies once they’ve attacked you.

Late Game:

You’ll be expected to cooperate with your team from this point. Your ultimate must be well placed, or you risk your allies dying more than your enemies. You’re going to be expected to use Caretaker’s Shrine on yourself to get in a good position for a Cosmic Binding on either of their carries.

You can use Caretaker’s Shrine to your advantage by setting them up before a team fight. Align them down so your team can benefit from a split-push to the enemy’s base, and your enemies won’t notice you’ve lost a member before it’s too late, but be careful, they’re going to engage your team, because they have the number advantage; this is where Magical Journey will shine. Place it down, and communicate with your team to go through it, enemy players will come into it bunched up, take advantage of your Cosmic Binding at this point, for an easy stun on two of their most important champions. At this point, you’re far enough ahead of the enemies where you can push another inhibitor, or win.

Depending on who you’re playing against your end-game items might normally be Boots of Mobility, Frozen Heart, Ruby Sightstone and Locket of Iron Solari; with the last two items being optional. That said, I always like to choose: Mikael’s Crucible against teams that have a lot of crowd control. Twin Shadows against assassin-type enemies, and to prevent surprise attacks. Talisman of Ascension for the movement speed bonus – allowing more chances to use Cosmic Binding and Tempered Fate. The last item being Righteous Glory; this item is to add a bit more defence to your champion, and is a good replacement for your Talisman of Ascension if you purchased it earlier in the game.

Optional:

Synergy Picks:

Caitlyn:Caitlyn can very well win the lane for you. Caitlyn has the longest base attack range in the game. Your enemies won’t be able to earn the equivalent amount of gold from killing creeps that your lane can.

Jinx:If Jinx can land a Flame Chomper [E], then you’ve potentially received a free Cosmic Binding double stun, the lane potential for this combo is amazing.

Tristana:If Tristana can land a smooth Buster Shot [R], then you can place a Tempered Fate between the two enemy champions, and zone them apart for a swift victory. Tristana also benefits from having the highest late game attack range.

Counter Picks:

Vel’Koz:From a support point of view, Vel’Koz just has more range than Bard does, it can be really aggravating to play against. When you’re trying to set up a kill with Cosmic Binding, Vel’Koz can force you to hide in the bushes, leaving your marksman to fend for theirself.

Blitzcrank:Blitzcrank can dominate your lane with his Rocket Grab ability to the point where you’ll be afraid to play bottom. That said, if you use Bard’s Cosmic Binding ability once Blitzcrank has used Rocket Grab, you can potentially stun him once you have been pulled towards him. However, you will need to hope that your marksman doesn’t run away before realising that you have a chance of turning the tables.

Caitlyn:
Your job is to get close to your enemy, and try to stun them, & kill them. You won’t be able to get close to Caitlyn unless she’s attacking your marksman, or you catch her trying to kill creeps.

Try and use the bushes to land a surprise Cosmic Binding on her, but make sure the enemy support isn’t in those bushes first, and your marksman is ready to engage.
Pros:

Magical Journey [E] allows Bard to become one of the top escapologists in the game, but also allows him to land a game winning surprise attack on the enemy with careful ward placement.

Insane utility kit – opens many possibilities during all phases of the game.

Chimes can spawn in your lane – It’s hard to run out of mana.

High poke damage through early and mid phases.

Can work well with the summoner spells Ignite/Exhaust, instead of the usual Flash/Ignite.

Cons:

Short ranged poke, hard to survive against Caitlyn/Vel’Koz match-ups.

Chimes don’t have a set spawn route – can be very unpredictable.

Tempered Fate, and Magical Journey can help the enemy team more than yours if placed incorrectly.

As all supports go, you’re not going to kill the enemy team alone; solo queue can be a challenge when your team doesn’t cooperate with you.

Overall:

Bard is a very versatile champion, and should be feared in the bottom lane. He shines in the support role, and has the possibility of helping your enemy team succeed. Your auto attacks and Cosmic Bindings deal a lot of damage! Don’t under-estimate your kill potential with your marksman, but don’t over-estimate the value of collecting Chimes while your opponent’s are stopping your marksman from obtaining creep score (cs).

Thank you for reading!

Luke – Big Orbit Games.

Big Orbit are a hobby games retailer that specialises in the sale of individual trading cards and game components – Big Orbit also runs a Gaming venue in Evesham, Worcs, UK.

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